Just let it spread ..

[Smallereveryday]

Can someone please explain how this idea is even a thing ?

Majority of 'shielders' live with others who aren't at risk.

I want my 18 yr old and 24 yr old to have as normal a life as possible but how can that happen with a mother with no spleen and on immunosuppressants ?

All it takes is for one of them to catch it and bring it home - surely ? Or do none of the 'just live your life ' believers NEVER come into contact with someone for whom this could mean long term illness or even death. ?

I live with a shielder. I actually heard someone arguing recently about letting it spread & they uttered the words ‘natural selection’.

I don’t understand it either. From previous threads it usually boils down to “it’s not a big deal to a lot of people, and deaths aren’t going up because the virus is milder now” (it’s not).

Oh, or that its all a conspiracy and we are “sheeple” who will shortly be injected with nanotechnology under the guise of a vaccine

This is absolutely NOT what previous generations, who did not have the possibility of a vaccine to hang on to, did.

During the plague, people were shut up on houses, lived away from the towns, stayed away from one another, wouldn’t allow strangers into their town and so on to try to avoid catching it.

During the 1918-19 pandemic, many public facilities were closed, people wore masks.

Coronavirus is much less deadly than the plague. It remains to be seen how it will compare long term with the flu pandemic. It is much more deadly than seasonal flu - it has already killed 1.5 times more worldwide than the worst seasonal flu years, but it’s a long way short of being finished.

What would happen if your DC brought home chicken pox, flu or any other particularly nasty virus that people don't get their knickers in a twist about?

I would expect an autoimmune compromised person to be making active steps to avoid getting viruses themselves at anytime. My DSIS was having chemo this time last year. She took it on herself to lock herself down in winter when colds and flu were doing the rounds.

No I don't come into contact with any shielders. If I did I just wouldn't see them until this is over. The problem is, it might never be over, even a vaccine won't eradicate this. I understand we are trying to suppress numbers now, but in 6 months time if there isn't a vaccine there will need to be another plan because there is no way people will stick to restrictions by then, neither should people have to. Unfortunately that means shielders will either have to be protected or just get on with life too. As I'm not one I don't know which option people would prefer?

@Racoonworld

No I don't come into contact with any shielders. If I did I just wouldn't see them until this is over. The problem is, it might never be over, even a vaccine won't eradicate this. I understand we are trying to suppress numbers now, but in 6 months time if there isn't a vaccine there will need to be another plan because there is no way people will stick to restrictions by then, neither should people have to. Unfortunately that means shielders will either have to be protected or just get on with life too. As I'm not one I don't know which option people would prefer?

Do you never travel on public transport? Never touch a door handle , never go to a supermarket and pick something up and put it back ? Never buy petrol and pick up the pump with bear hands ? Really ? NEVER ?

Never see someone over 70 ? Never stand in a queue at a pharmacy?

INever see small children and come into contact and then see an elderly family member.. I just don't know anyone who lives that life if they aren't housebound ..

Personally I don’t think we have lived with restrictions that long yet. It’s going to be a difficult winter but by March we should have more optimistic results from trials of vaccines and treatments. And that’s only one year since lockdown began. Which is quite short in pandemic terms.

People who think they just don’t come in to contact with shielders. What if you need to go to minor injury clinic for a cut finger/broken wrist etc. And you pass the virus to someone there. They may be shielding or they may know someone who is shielding. It is impossible to be sure you won’t pass it to someone like this.

@Fatted

What would happen if your DC brought home chicken pox, flu or any other particularly nasty virus that people don't get their knickers in a twist about?

I would expect an autoimmune compromised person to be making active steps to avoid getting viruses themselves at anytime. My DSIS was having chemo this time last year. She took it on herself to lock herself down in winter when colds and flu were doing the rounds.

Flu ? I have a flu vaccine every year . Along with pneumavax ( but still has pneumonia 3 times in 5 years... ) chicken pox ? I have had it .. and it's anti bodies are long lasting yet still got shingles 2 years ago (awful) .. I am careful but the idea that people are willing to get Covid without realising just how horrendous it is for those with underlying health conditions just defies belief.

My husband has worked on the wards as an NHS consultant throughout this pandemic, no time off as his leave was cancelled.

He is high risk but not in the shielding category. If the decision was made to just let the virus do its thing he wouldn't go to work until it's over, I think many NHS staff would do the same.

It's not possible to make a decision to go back to normal as an individual without it affecting other people.

@Racoonworld

No I don't come into contact with any shielders. If I did I just wouldn't see them until this is over. The problem is, it might never be over, even a vaccine won't eradicate this. I understand we are trying to suppress numbers now, but in 6 months time if there isn't a vaccine there will need to be another plan because there is no way people will stick to restrictions by then, neither should people have to. Unfortunately that means shielders will either have to be protected or just get on with life too. As I'm not one I don't know which option people would prefer?

What a spectacularly ignorant post.

@Fatted

What would happen if your DC brought home chicken pox, flu or any other particularly nasty virus that people don't get their knickers in a twist about?

I would expect an autoimmune compromised person to be making active steps to avoid getting viruses themselves at anytime. My DSIS was having chemo this time last year. She took it on herself to lock herself down in winter when colds and flu were doing the rounds.

From vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/chickenpox-varicella

“Chickenpox, also called varicella, is a highly infectious disease which is very common in the UK. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Most people in the UK catch chickenpox as children and do not suffer any long-term effects, although about one in four adults are then at risk of developing shingles later in life. In rare cases, the effects of chickenpox can be much more serious (for example in pregnancy, in people with immune system problems or on chemotherapy), but with good medical care most people survive. Very occasionally the disease results in death, but the number of deaths in the UK is low (an average of around 20 a year).”

Not exactly comparable, is it?

As for flu (for which we do have a vaccine, take up among the over-65’s is typically around 75%), annual deaths in the UK typically range from about 7,000 to 20,000 on a really bad year. Covid has already killed more than double a really bad flu year in six months, and most of the population have not yet been exposed.

@Racoonworld - are you sure that you don't come into contact with any shielders?

Do you have any school aged children?

My "shielded" child is having to attend school in a 'bubble' of 180+. The behavioural decisions of their families, and how they expose themselves to the virus, potentially has an effect on her as they possibly pass it along.

I live with 2 shielders, one has just been taken into hospital
I find it really, really worrying.
I also have the line from Christmas Carol ‘and decrease the surplus population!’ In my head, how much money would the government save in future care bills if all these people’s were cut short? Enough to help reduce the the furlough debt?
I’m not a conspiracy theorist usually but it is very worrying when you live with people who are shielding and can’t protect them by shielding yourself.

Slightly at a tangent, but just watched scenes of nearly empty House of Commons so why don't we do an experiment with all MPs coming back to Parliament and see how that goes, then roll it out to the general public?

@Changenamefortoday because poor BoJo already has enough on his plate with his teeny tiny salary and stress of how to afford a Nanny dontcha know!

[quote WinstonWolf]@Racoonworld - are you sure that you don't come into contact with any shielders?

Do you have any school aged children?

My "shielded" child is having to attend school in a 'bubble' of 180+. The behavioural decisions of their families, and how they expose themselves to the virus, potentially has an effect on her as they possibly pass it along.[/quote]
No I don’t have school age children. I really don’t know anyone shielding!

@Smallereveryday sorry I should have said I don’t directly come in contact with any shielders. Of course I touch things but would expect shielders to take precautions such as using hand gel when out in public. I have a small number of elderly relatives, they aren’t in the shielders group however. I have stuck to the rules rigidly and when I see them I take all precautions I can, including seeing them less often to limit contact. As I said, this won’t be going away any time soon, everyone will need to just take whatever precautions they feel necessary.

@Changenamefortoday

Slightly at a tangent, but just watched scenes of nearly empty House of Commons so why don't we do an experiment with all MPs coming back to Parliament and see how that goes, then roll it out to the general public?

Good idea! But if that happened, they'd probably all suddenly sign themselves up as vaccine volunteers... Apparently they'll be front of queue for it anyhow because they're classed as keyworkers.

The risk of developing Long Covid means everyone (young and healthy included) is vulnerable.

@LangClegsInSpace sorry but why is it ignorant? This isn’t what I want to happen, I’m just repeating what everyone has been saying, the virus isn’t going away, it won’t be eradicated. I would love it if no one was at risk, but unfortunately people are and when everyone goes back to normal next year (because that’s what will happen, compliance is getting less and less) those people will be exposed even more unless they are protected. I was just wondering if those shielding would rather be protected whilst this happens or they would rather get on with it like everyone else?

Racoon, shielding was 'paused' on August 1st.

Over 2M people were told to just go back to normal, work, school etc. having been told just four weeks previously that it wasn't safe to even sleep with their partner, hug their children or eat with their family.

Unless you have decided to shield yourself, you will be coming into contact with people who've been shielding during the course of your everyday life. You won't know, they don't wear badges.

@LangClegsInSpace well me and DH are working from home. When out in public we are 2m away from others or 1m plus masks. I would hope that shielders would stick to that rule themselves. I see family and friends but none are shielders. When things go back to normal of course I’ll be out more and not distancing, but that’s why shielders should be protected at that time.

I think anyone who thinks places would stay open and people would go to them even if they did if people were getting ill and dropping dead all over the place are a bit deluded.

Can someone please explain how this idea is even a thing

• Quite a lot of people are stupid.
• The current situation is shit and people are desperate to believe any old crap rather than deal with reality.
• The government have done a really poor job of communicating the risks and the strategy to mitigate them.

Thing is, it isn't just shielders who will die. Current death rates are low because those who are hospitalised are getting really good care. If a serious case is caught early, there is a very good prognosis.

As soon as the NHS is stretched those numbers will start to tick back up again. If we exceed capacity we'll see death rates more akin to the early ones in New York and Northern Italy.

@Pinkshrimp

I live with a shielder. I actually heard someone arguing recently about letting it spread & they uttered the words ‘natural selection’.

They only say that because they assume they won't be the ones selected out🧐